


I Know You

by sparkandwolf (thatnerdemryn)



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, Graduation, Hopeless Romantic, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Reminiscing, sterekvalentineweek2021
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-09
Updated: 2021-02-09
Packaged: 2021-03-14 21:46:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29302908
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatnerdemryn/pseuds/sparkandwolf
Summary: “I thought I’d find you here,” Derek said, placing a gentle kiss on Stiles’ temple. He could barely feel Derek’s lips through the thick hair he had let grow during his senior year. He was never expecting to rid himself of his signature buzz cut, but it wasn’t exactly a priority when battling the danger they so often faced.“Am I that obvious?” Stiles asked.“To me,” Derek said simply, squeezing Stiles’ shoulder.
Relationships: Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski
Comments: 22
Kudos: 147
Collections: Sterek Valentine Week





	I Know You

**Author's Note:**

> Been too long since I've written Sterek and what better way than to kick off Sterek Valentine Week! This is such a wonderful event so please go check out all of the amazing works that have already been posted in the collection! 
> 
> Today's prompt: _Hopeless Romantic_

Stiles sat on the hood of his jeep, staring up at the school that had been both his nightmare and his home for the last four years. There were so many memories that surged through his mind when he read the bold letters that had been fixed too many times for him to count. 

**Beacon Hills High School.**

He thought back to the first day he had attended, still harboring a ridiculous crush on a girl way out of his league and ready for four years of being no one with his best friend. He never realized how much his life would change. He no longer loved Lydia - not in the obsessive way he had when he was a kid, at least - and he and Scott were no longer nobodies to anyone who mattered. 

And there were more people who mattered to Stiles than when he started his high school adventure. As if on cue, soft footsteps crushed the pavement behind him. He would usually jump to the ready, grab his trusty baseball bat for protection, but he recognized the cool cologne wafting toward him and the warm body that slid beside him that fit as perfectly as it always had. 

“Derek,” Stiles sighed happily, leaning into the arm that found its way around his shoulder. He breathed in Derek’s scent but didn’t look over at him, still taking in the building in front of him. 

“I thought I’d find you here,” Derek said, placing a gentle kiss on Stiles’ temple. He could barely feel Derek’s lips through the thick hair he had let grow during his senior year. He was never expecting to rid himself of his signature buzz cut, but it wasn’t exactly a priority when battling the danger they so often faced. 

“Am I that obvious?” Stiles asked. 

“To me,” Derek said simply, squeezing Stiles’ shoulder. Stiles found himself blushing at the admission. Derek had been the biggest surprise to come out of his four crazy years. His best friend turned into a werewolf, he had seen multiple dead bodies and defeated the evilest creatures he couldn’t even believe existed, and still, falling in love with Derek was something he never thought would happen. 

“Yeah?” Stiles whispered, leaning his cheek against the leather jacket he still hadn’t gotten Derek to stop wearing. Not that he really minded. He pulled it off better than anyone else really could. 

“In fact, I know a lot about you, Stiles,” Derek began, sliding off the front of the jeep until he stood face to face with Stiles. “I know that graduating is something you should be celebrating with the pack instead of sitting here on your own. I know that you’re probably worried to be at your house because your dad is gonna be a sentimental mess after today. I know that when you come to the school, it’s because you’re trying to remember every single thing you can because deep down you worry about losing it all.” 

Stiles shook his head, prepared to argue, “That’s not--” He stopped himself, though, seeing a seriousness in Derek’s eyes he didn’t expect. “Is everything okay?” Derek nodded and took Stiles’ hands in his, licking his lips as he huffed out a nervous laugh. 

“I come here sometimes, too. I go to that spot in the preserve where I first met you and Scott, I go to the police station to check in with your dad so we can both keep an eye on you.” Stiles raised his eyebrows but stayed silent. As much as he wanted to argue against that, too, Derek seemed like he had something to get off of his chest. “I go to your house and sneak in your window like I used to before you realized how ridiculously in love with you I was, and I come here. This place that kept you  _ marginally _ safe during the day so that I had time to sleep and try not to focus on you.” 

“I kept myself safe just fine, thank you very much,” Stiles said, but there was no heat in it. His heart was too full and his stomach tumbling with nerves as Derek stared over at him with so much love in his eyes, he couldn’t find it in myself to be angry. 

“You did, didn’t you?” Derek considered, rubbing his palms on Stiles’ thighs before holding onto the edges of his jacket like he didn’t know what to do with his hands. 

“What’s up with you?” Stiles asked, reaching up to cup Derek’s face softly. He leaned into Stiles’ touch and his eyes settled closed before he took a deep breath.

“I know you have plans. Big plans that mean moving away from here, from the pack. I don’t want to-- I would never want you to change those. You have proven to yourself and everyone around you that you’re so much more than this town has to offer and--” Derek gulped and reached into his pocket blindly, never taking his eyes away from Stiles’ that widened with every passing second. 

“What are you doing?” Stiles whispered, momentarily stunned as Derek knelt down on one knee, gazing up at Stiles with such passion in his eyes, Stiles almost gasped with the emotion behind it. “Derek…” 

“I talked to your dad. I mean, I talk to your dad often, but I-- I asked him when I could propose to you. He suggested - well, more like threatened me within an inch of my life - to wait until after graduation or at least until after you turned 18.” He pulled out a bright red box from his pocket and opened it slowly, revealing the most stunning ring Stiles had ever seen. There were two black bands surrounding a dark wooden center and the style of it matched both of them perfectly. 

“You’re serious?” Stiles asked from where he sat unmoving on the hood of the jeep. He was torn between launching at Derek and kissing the life out of him and staying frozen in place until he was sure Derek wasn’t playing a disastrously unfunny joke on him. 

“I had this whole plan to do up the loft with these fancy lights and bouquets of roses or some other romantic flower and have soft country music in the background--” 

“You hate country music,” Stiles interrupted. Derek beamed at him. 

“I do. But you love it, right?” Derek pointed out and Stiles could only nod. “We  _ know _ each other, Stiles, and I knew that you wouldn’t want some ridiculously cheesy proposal that probably would’ve been destroyed by something with our luck.” Stiles let out a surprising laugh that brought him out of his shocked stupor. 

“And what did you decide on instead?” Stiles asked slowly, sliding off of the jeep so he stood in front of Derek, resting a hand on his shoulder to urge him to continue only so Stiles could say yes. 

“Well, I went to Scott’s, thinking you would be there and he said you had left about an hour ago. Then I went to your dad’s and he talked me out of panic after he got over blubbering about you graduating and then said that you hadn’t come home. I knew you had to be here,” Derek explained. Stiles saw his fingers trembling and it was so out of the ordinary, he wasn’t sure what to say. “I wasn’t going to do this here, at a place where more bad things happened than good, but--” 

“It makes sense for us,” Stiles chimed in again, glancing over Derek’s head to stare at the broken sign he would never have to see again if he didn’t want to. “Every place in this town is filled with horrible memories, Derek. I would literally bet you to find a place that one of us hasn’t gotten hurt or someone hasn’t died,” Stiles huffed out a laugh and gazed back down at Derek. “This makes sense because this is the best memory we could possibly make at the place where the worst possible things have happened.” Stiles took a deep breath in and pulled Derek to standing so they were eye to eye and he could see the happiness on Stiles’ face. “Ask me, Derek,” he demanded. 

Derek let out a choked laugh that Stiles thought held unshed tears and whispered, “Will you marry me, Stiles? Make me the happiest man in Beacon Hills?” 

“Before I say yes, I’m gonna make fun of you for being such a hopeless romantic for the rest of our lives, you know that right?” Derek rolled his eyes and playfully smacked Stiles’ cheek before the gravity of Stiles’ words seemed to register in his brain. 

“But there’s a yes in there?” Derek asked, his smile breaking through any annoyance he might have felt for Stiles as it usually did. 

“There’s an emphatic yes in there, you idiot,” Stiles said and before he could speak any more, he surged into Derek’s arms and captured Derek’s lips in his. They had kissed hundreds of times before and each one had his heart stuttering more than the last but Stiles wasn’t sure if any would ever top that one. When they finally pulled away to breathe, Derek grabbed Stiles’ hand and slid the ring onto his finger. Stiles held his hand out to take it all in and felt his own tears spring into his eyes. 

“Now who’s the hopeless romantic?” Derek asked, wiping the one stray tear that escaped from Stiles’ cheek. Stiles shoved at his shoulder but grabbed his jacket to pull him closer before he could stray too far. 

“Still you, buddy, because I bet if we go to your loft to secure this engagement, there’s gonna be lights and roses decorating the entire place.” Derek flushed and stared up at the sky for a moment before leveling his eyes with Stiles’. 

“And how do you know that, Stiles?” Derek asked, holding Stiles delicately in his arms as if afraid the moment would be broken if they weren’t attached. 

“Because I know  _ you, _ Derek, and I love you.” The words were far too simple, but Stiles didn’t know what else to say. Derek was right; they knew each other and loved each other more than Stiles had ever imagined. He glanced up at the school that had haunted him and for the first time in four years, he smiled. 

**Author's Note:**

> I have a [Tumblr](https://sparkandwolf.tumblr.com) specifically for my Sterek obsession so feel free to follow it for updates and snippets and other Sterek content and use my ask to send me prompts, coda ideas, or just scream with me about Sterek. 
> 
> Also, feel free to follow my [Twitter](https://twitter.com/thatnerdemilyj) and let me know what you think. 
> 
> Please, please, please let me know your thought in the comments and leave kudos if you enjoyed it!


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